MRI-Guided Laser Appears Promising in Study

The NeuroBlate thermal therapy system, developed by Monteris Medical and the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center — comprising the University Hospitals’ Case Medical Center, Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine — provides a safe procedure for treating recurrent glioblastomas, a malignant type of brain tumor, by “cooking” them in a controlled way to destroy them.

The technique, part of a Phase I clinical trial investigating the safety and performance of the specially designed laser probe system, uses an MRI-guided laser system to coagulate, or heat and kill, brain tumors. The procedure is done in an MRI machine, enabling surgeons to plan, steer and see in real time the device, the heat map of the area treated by the laser, and the tumor tissue that has been coagulated.